Older Horseboxes

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Louby

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After terrorising my horse in a trailer
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or should I say him terrorising me
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Ive decided to sell my trailer and am seriously thinking about buying a horsebox. Its probably not the brightest of ideas, cost wise but if it stops the stress and upset then its got to be worth it.
Funds are limited so it would be an older box, have any of you got old boxes? If so are they very expensive to maintain and what would you advise I look out for or any boxes I should avoid?
 
older Ford Cargos tend to rot around the cab - around the front, the steps, and the mounts for the tilting cab can be dodgy too. All fixable and need welding, but worth looking out for
 
I have a P reg 3.5 ton lorry (no living). It's not smart, but goes from A to B, only has an MOT (not a plating) and probably cost about £500-£600 per year to keep on the road (Insurance, Tax, MOT & Servicing).
 
I have an old ford Cargo and it serves me pretty well. I have a leak in the fuel tank tho and it IS proving hard to find a decent second hand tank......

Looked at quite a few but hat I would say is make damned sure that the floor is safe as this is not checked in an MOT and is possibly the most important thing (second to brakes an stearing - lol!)

TBH any vehicle that is old wil have areas of rot and rust - best take a mechanic or someone in the know with you so you can get the full picture...
 
My lorry is 21 years old, I've owned it 10 years and I've spent about £1000 on it altogether. Mainly tryes and a couple of starter motors. Its a Dodge 6.6t. They are very good mechanically, parts are cheap and easy to get hold of as Massey Fergusson tractor parts fit them. Very noisy in the cab and they do rust - but it is all cosmetic - not a MOT failure.

What sort of budget do you have?
 
Thanks for your replies.
Well depending on what I get for my trailer I would say between £3500 and £4500 to spend. Not much I know
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Im not bothered about living, just somewhere to get changed and stick a chair in it will do
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and it will only carry one very fussy spoilt horse, so dont want a really big one. Oh has to be on the herringbone too.
Im so worried I will buy something thats always breaking down.
 
We had a Y reg Bedford TL (ie 1982/3) & it was 110% reliable, but v slow. Then we got a G reg Leyland Roadrunner that never 'went wrong' but was a complete b**ch to start. Both were within your budget. Both were used twice a week for several years without much in the way of bills that above & beyond normal maintenance.

My tip - VISIT LORRIES IN DAYLIGHT!!!!!! The roadrunner looked fab in the twilight, but in daylight it was disappointingly scruffy. Also, if you can, test drive some of your friends' lorries so you get a 'feel' for light/heavy steering, clutch etc, what the gearbox should feel like & whether the box is fast or slow. Then you'll have some benchmarks to judge any prospective purchase.

When you try a box you're thinking of buying, try it through lanes & motorway & up a decent hill if you can find one. Good luck!
 
I've got a V plated Beford TL860 (old V) and I've had it 13 years - in that time it has cost me £1000 in repairs (one of those was an £800 bill and the bloke didn't fix the problem - OH did when we'd just me for a whole 25p!)

It starts every time - looks nothing special - but as my mum always says whe nI moan - it's the horse you get out of it!
 
My old lady will be thirty just before Christmas. She looks terrible and at her last test the tester looked at her and said "Oh My God that looks like a heap of shite", after he couldn't find a single fault on her he came back and said he'd much rather see the old girls like this on the road that "look like shite but are sound underneath" than "tarted up pretty lorries that are shite underneath". He went on to say that I could have spent ten times the money and not got one anything like as sound.

She cost me a grand 2.5 years ago, is 7.5 tonnes with loads of spare weight, has an aluminium I-beam floor, has failed to start only once - when the starter motor blew - and was given a new ramp last year as a reward for passing her test.

To be fair she normally trundles round the Fens but has taken us on holiday to the North Norfolk coast, to Burghley, to Norwich and to Ipswich. I shan't be taking her up to York however.

I didn't take anyone with me to see her but I have bought and sold many vehicles in the past. If you're not confident then take someone with you to look at the mechanicals and remember the VOSA test certificate DOES NOT COVER THE LORRY BODY - it may have a ticket but it may NOT be safe for horses. You need to check really thoroughly especially the flooring and the ramp.

Biggest tip for buying a reliable lorry - buy one you've seen out at all the shows, that's if you can't get one off a mate who wants a bigger/smaller/newer one.

Biggest tip for keeping it reliable - keep it in use. Mine is out on average three times a week.
 
Another tip - catembi reminded me. Get an isolator switch fitted if it hasn't one already. At least you'll be able to start it then.
 
I have an old B reg MAN & it has touch wood been great. This year it just needed 4 part worns for the plate which it passed 1st time. Mind you last year it cost me a pretty penny, I needed the breaks doing & the tilt cab did not tilt so all that had to be done. Also they had wired up the radio to the full 24volt battery system so needed that doing as well. But the biggest pain it the £25 a mth to park at the yard as at 7.5 it is just a tadd too big for the drive at home!!
 
Thanks for your replies, I feel quite excited now. Hubby hasnt been over supportive about me having a lorry due to cost but seems to be coming round a bit now. He's witnessed devil horse in action with the trailer and seen my bruises!!! and has said sell the trailer and we will save up and maybe get a box next year. I just want to get out there now so the trailers for sale and fingers crossed we will be mobile soon.
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Thanks for that. I had read something about this. Its so difficult isnt it. I just want to go out and get competing, have a horse that travels great in a wagon but is awful in a trailer. Well cant keep him in one! Just dont know what to do. Have considered a Fautras, herringbone one but I just cant keep buying trailers only to find I cant keep him in it. Wouldnt be so bad if the Fautras was popular and I could try before I bought but theres no dealers local enough to me.
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[ QUOTE ]
Be careful:

From Feb 2008, lorries with OLD diesel engines will be paying a £100 per day emmisions charge within the greater London area. This may be extended to other places in time, so buying an older lorry is a risk.

[/ QUOTE ]

The good news is that the vast majority of us may know where London is, but never feel the urge to go there, particularly with a horse.
 
He'd only ever travelled in a horsebox before I bought him and travels great in one. My friend has a box and weve travelled him in that and hes great.
Ive only ever had a trailer with my previous horses and didnt think we'd have any problems so bought another so we could go out as and when instead of relying on someone. He loaded great, bit nervous though and decided to take him for a short drive, didnt hear a peep out of him. He was apprehensive when we unloaded him and a bit hot but I was really pleased. Next time we loaded him fine but he freaked when we went to put the ramp up and shot out backwards so we spent about a month feeding him in it every day and he was ok ish. Tried to shut him in and he proper freaked and to be honest scared me to death. Ive had him in a lorry since and I think Ive knocked his confidence a bit as although he loaded on the 3rd attempt he wasnt quit as chilled. Hes the sort of horse that explodes before he thinks and Im sure that if I perservered with the trailer he would either come over the breast bar or seriously injure himself or me. Its like get me out of here now, once hes out hes ok.
 
i realy wouldnt worry about the london thing. I know where london is, wouldnt take a horse there though. and i f i have to then i'd hire a box as my poor little aincient lorry would take forever to get there! If it does come into force in other areas the next place will most likely be birmingham and you will have a good few years warning anyway so plenty of time to save up for a newer lorry.

Ive got an 1983 Merc 813 its only ever let me down once and that was mums fault anyway for running it out of feul! Had it serviced and prepared for its MOT and it needed very little doing to it!
(BTW mine will be for sale soon as a friend of mine has offered to go halves on a more modern lorry that she can drive!)
 
Cp1980 the london emissions zone will basicly bar out anything with a reg earlier then 2002/2003. very few people can afford that reg and if they can then yes they should go for it. However if you look at it this way. I cant afford a 2002 reg lorry (wish i could) however by the time they get round to implimenting it in other cities i may have saved enough and the price of those reg lorries come down enough for me to afford one.
 
Im doing my hubbys head in
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been talking about it all day again! I dont think I will ever be in the league to afford a newish wagon and to be honest I dont warrant one, hence always having a trailer. I want to do local dressage, shows and go to places like Somerford Park, Ive always wanted to go there
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. If things progress and I affilliate which is possible if I could only get the spooky boy out to see things and get some experience then Id have to look at ways to finance a better lorry.
 
when i was looking for my first lorry i did my mums head in completely! now at least i have a friend who doesnt mind me emailing her 50+ adverts a day!
 
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